Chapter 13: Skin, Hair, & Nails (Practice Questions) Flashcards
The nurse educator is preparing an education module for the nursing staff on the epidermal layer of skin. Which of these statements would be included in the module? The epidermis is:
a. Highly vascular.
b. Thick and tough.
c. Thin and non stratified.
d. Replaced every 4 weeks.
d. Replaced every 4 weeks.
The nurse educator is preparing an education module for the nursing staff on the dermis layer of skin. Which
of these statements would be included in the module? The dermis:
a. Contains mostly fat cells.
b. Consists mostly of keratin.
c. Is replaced every 4 weeks.
d. Contains sensory receptors
d. Contains sensory receptors
The nurse is examining a patient who tells the nurse, I sure sweat a lot, especially on my face and feet but it doesn’t have an odor. The nurse knows that this condition could be related to:
a. Eccrine glands.
b. Apocrine glands.
c. Disorder of the stratum corneum.
d. Disorder of the stratum germinativum.
a. Eccrine glands.
The nurse is bathing an 80-year-old man and notices that his skin is wrinkled, thin, lax, and dry. This finding would be related to which factor in the older adult?
a. Increased vascularity of the skin
b. Increased numbers of sweat and sebaceous glands
c. An increase in elastin and a decrease in subcutaneous fat
d. An increased loss of elastin and a decrease in subcutaneous fat
d. An increased loss of elastin and a decrease in subcutaneous fat
During the aging process, the hair can look gray or white and begin to feel thin and fine. The nurse knows
that this occurs because of a decrease in the number of functioning:
a. Metrocytes.
b. Fungacytes.
c. Phagocytes.
d. Melanocytes.
d. Melanocytes.
During an examination, the nurse finds that a patient has excessive dryness of the skin. The best term to
describe this condition is:
a. Xerosis.
b. Pruritus.
c. Alopecia.
d. Seborrhea.
a. Xerosis.
A 22-year-old woman comes to the clinic because of severe sunburn and states, I was out in the sun for just a couple of minutes. The nurse begins a medication review with her, paying special attention to which medication class?
a. Nonsteroidal antiinflammatory drugs for pain
b. Tetracyclines for acne
c. Proton pump inhibitors for heartburn
d. Thyroid replacement hormone for hypothyroidism
b. Tetracyclines for acne
A woman is leaving on a trip to Hawaii and has come in for a checkup. During the examination the nurse learns that she has diabetes and takes oral hypoglycemic agents. The patient needs to be concerned about
which possible effect of her medications?
a. Increased possibility of bruising
b. Skin sensitivity as a result of exposure to salt water
c. Lack of availability of glucose-monitoring supplies
d. Importance of sunscreen and avoiding direct sunlight
d. Importance of sunscreen and avoiding direct sunlight
A 75-year-old woman who has a history of diabetes and peripheral vascular disease has been trying to
remove a corn on the bottom of her foot with a pair of scissors. The nurse will encourage her to stop trying to remove the corn with scissors because:
a. The woman could be at increased risk for infection and lesions because of her chronic disease.
b. With her diabetes, she has increased circulation to her foot, and it could cause severe bleeding.
c. She is 75 years old and is unable to see; consequently, she places herself at greater risk for selfinjury with the scissors.
d. With her peripheral vascular disease, her range of motion is limited and she may not be able to
reach the corn safely.
a. The woman could be at increased risk for infection and lesions because of her chronic disease.
The nurse keeps in mind that a thorough skin assessment is extremely important because the skin holds information about a person’s:
a. Support systems.
b. Circulatory status.
c. Socioeconomic status.
d. Psychological wellness
b. Circulatory status.
A patient comes in for a physical examination and complains of freezing to death while waiting for here examination. The nurse notes that her skin is pale and cool and attributes this finding to:
a. Venous pooling.
b. Peripheral vasodilation.
c. Peripheral vasoconstriction.
d. Decreased arterial perfusion.
c. Peripheral vasoconstriction.
A patient comes to the clinic and tells the nurse that he has been confined to his recliner chair for approximately 3 days with his feet down and he asks the nurse to evaluate his feet. During the assessment, the
nurse might expect to find:
a. Pallor
b. Coolness
c. Distended veins
d. Prolonged capillary filling time
c. Distended veins
- A patient is especially worried about an area of skin on her feet that has turned white. The health care provider has told her that her condition is vitiligo. The nurse explains to her that vitiligo is:
a. Caused by an excess of melanin pigment
b. Caused by an excess of apocrine glands in her feet
c. Caused by the complete absence of melanin pigment
d. Related to impetigo and can be treated with an ointment
c. Caused by the complete absence of melanin pigment
A patient tells the nurse that he has noticed that one of his moles has started to burn and bleed. When assessing his skin, the nurse pays special attention to the danger signs for pigmented lesions and is concerned
with which additional finding?
a. Color variation
b. Border regularity
c. Symmetry of lesions
d. Diameter of less than 6 mm
a. Color variation
A patient comes to the clinic and states that he has noticed that his skin is redder than normal. The nurse understands that this condition is due to hyperemia and knows that it can be caused by:
a. Decreased amounts of bilirubin in the blood
b. Excess blood in the underlying blood vessels
c. Decreased perfusion to the surrounding tissues
d. Excess blood in the dilated superficial capillaries
d. Excess blood in the dilated superficial capillaries
During a skin assessment, the nurse notices that a Mexican-American patient has skin that is yellowish- brown; however, the skin on the hard and soft palate is pink and the patients scleras are not yellow. From this
finding, the nurse could probably rule out:
a. Pallor
b. Jaundice
c. Cyanosis
d. Iron deficiency
b. Jaundice
A black patient is in the intensive care unit because of impending shock after an accident. The nurse expects to find what characteristics in this patients skin?
a. Ruddy blue.
b. Generalized pallor.
c. Ashen, gray, or dull.
d. Patchy areas of pallor.
c. Ashen, gray, or dull.
An older adult woman is brought to the emergency department after being found lying on the kitchen floor
for 2 days; she is extremely dehydrated. What would the nurse expect to see during the examination?
a. Smooth mucous membranes and lips
b. Dry mucous membranes and cracked lips
c. Pale mucous membranes
d. White patches on the mucous membranes
b. Dry mucous membranes and cracked lips
A 42-year-old woman complains that she has noticed several small, slightly raised, bright red dots on her chest. On examination, the nurse expects that the spots are probably:
b. Scleroderma.
c. Senile angiomas.
d. Latent myeloma.
c. Senile angiomas.
A 65-year-old man with emphysema and bronchitis has come to the clinic for a follow-up appointment. On
assessment, the nurse might expect to see which finding?
a. Anasarca
b. Scleroderma
c. Pedal erythema
d. Clubbing of the nails
d. Clubbing of the nails
A 35-year-old pregnant woman comes to the clinic for a monthly appointment. During the assessment, the nurse notices that she has a brown patch of hyperpigmentation on her face. The nurse continues the skin assessment aware that another finding may be:
a. Keratoses.
b. Xerosis.
c. Chloasma.
d. Acrochordons
c. Chloasma.
A man has come in to the clinic for a skin assessment because he is worried he might have skin cancer. During the skin assessment the nurse notices several areas of pigmentation that look greasy, dark, and stuck on his skin. Which is the best prediction?
a. Senile lentigines, which do not become cancerous
b. Actinic keratoses, which are precursors to basal cell carcinoma
c. Acrochordons, which are precursors to squamous cell carcinoma
d. Seborrheic keratoses, which do not become cancerous
d. Seborrheic keratoses, which do not become cancerous
A 70-year-old woman who loves to garden has small, flat, brown macules over her arms and hands. She asks, What causes these liver spots? The nurse tells her, They are:
a. Signs of decreased hematocrit related to anemia.
b. Due to the destruction of melanin in your skin from exposure to the sun.
c. Clusters of melanocytes that appear after extensive sun exposure.
d. Areas of hyperpigmentation related to decreased perfusion and vasoconstriction.
c. Clusters of melanocytes that appear after extensive sun exposure.
The nurse notices that a patient has a solid, elevated, circumscribed lesion that is less than 1 cm in diameter. When documenting this finding, the nurse reports this as a:
a. Bulla.
b. Wheal.
c. Nodule.
d. Papule.
d. Papule.
